


Trauma shakes the soul and marks the skin

by the_scarlet_01



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Bit of a rewrite of the events at the VA, Fickle soulmarks, First Kiss, Injury, Lena hangs around a bit but don't worry, M/M, Trauma triggers soulmarks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-10
Updated: 2019-12-10
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:07:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21739576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_scarlet_01/pseuds/the_scarlet_01
Summary: They live in a world with fickle soulmarks. You weren’t born with them. They didn’t make it easy to tell who your soulmate would be. Sometimes you’d have known the person for years only to have something change in one of their lives and a mark would appear. They appeared when the fates decided you were ready to meet your soulmate. For Evan Buckley the fates decided to wait until after he has survived being crushed by a truck, a pulmonary embolism, and a tsunami. The tsunami seems to be the trigger. Eddie Diaz has lost his wife in an accident and nearly lost his son to tsunami. He doesn’t have time for the soulmarks that decided to finally show up.
Relationships: Eddie Diaz & Henrietta "Hen" Wilson, Evan "Buck" Buckley & Christopher Diaz, Evan "Buck" Buckley & Howie "Chimney" Han, Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz, Maddie Buckley/Howie “Chimney” Han
Comments: 11
Kudos: 624
Collections: Buck and Eddie are Soulmates





	Trauma shakes the soul and marks the skin

**Author's Note:**

> Unbeta'd  
> There is a bit of cussing, so be warned.  
> Lena helps out the Eddie and the 118, she helps Eddie at the VA a bit more than we see in the show.  
> Italics are memories/flashbacks

Maddie had insisted that Buck stay with them after the tsunami. Her heart had broken when she saw the state her brother was in after she’d nearly lost him to the waves. Chimney hadn’t argued when she said that her brother needed her and Buck took his spot in Maddie’s bed. It was easier to comfort her brother when he’d wake up every couple of hours from nightmares if they were in the same room. Chim understood. He’d been there when Buck’s leg gave out after seeing Christopher safe. He didn’t mind the couch. He’d stay close in case his friend had more serious complications. But no one was expecting what happened the next morning. Buck woke up to his sister gently shaking his shoulders. 

“Buck, wake up, you have to see this.” Maddie ignored her brother’s protests. “Evan! This is important.”

Buck felt like a bucket of ice was thrown in his face when his mind finally registered what Maddie had said. Nothing was more important than Christopher, especially after the day before. “Christopher? Is he okay?”

Maddie smiled fondly at her brother. Of course he’d wake up and ask about Christopher after what had happened. “Christopher is with Eddie. He’s safe. This isn’t about him. This is about you.” She pulled her brother out of bed and pushed him into the bathroom. Buck’s sleep addled brain was not awake enough for his. “Buck, look!” His sister had pulled up the hem of his shirt to reveal and intricate design on his side. It was on the opposite side of his tattoo, just above his hip. He stared at the mark in disbelief. “Was that there yesterday?” Maddie asked.

“I…I don’t think so, but yesterday was…” A shiver of panic and fear ran down Buck’s spin as he spoke.

“You know what this means?” Maddie smiled, the siblings’ eyes meeting in the mirror.

“I have a soulmate.” Buck mumbled.

“This is so exciting.” Maddie smiled. She’d always hoped her brother would get a soulmate. He deserved to be happy. Especially after all he’d been through in the past year. She wanted nothing but happiness for her brother.

“Sure,” Buck worried at his lip, as he pulled his shirt out of his sister’s fingers and smoothing it back down. He had mixed feeling about this. There was already someone he loved more than anything in the world, and he’d ruined that. “I have to go.” Buck ignored his sister’s protests, and with a quick thank you to Chimney he was out the door. He needed to get home. He needed to think. Why was this happening now? He’d heard about soulmarks showing up after traumatic events, but why now? Why not after the bombing? Why not after his embolism? Why now?

Bobby had insisted that Eddie take the next day off to make sure Christopher was okay. Sure, the team would be busy, but nothing was more important than family. Bobby wouldn’t take no for an answer, besides, Bosko’s team had been displaced so they’d been assigned to other houses for the time being. Bosko joined them since they were already a man down. That first night Eddie held his son close as the boy slept beside him in Eddie’s bed. The boy was so sore and exhausted that he barely moved all night. His little body was trying to cope with the stress from the chaotic events. Eddie actually cried at the sight. Silent tears falling as he watched his son’s chest rise and fall. It was like when Christopher was a baby all over again, he was afraid that if he strayed too far or if he didn’t have his son in his arms than he’d wake up and it would be a dream. He thought about what happened the night before.

_He was standing at the VA, surprised to see Buck there, despite the younger man being off duty. Buck was an absolute wreck telling him Christopher was gone. It was the worst few seconds of his life. When he saw his son in that woman’s arms it was a miracle. He’d never felt so relieved in his life. It was one of the best few seconds of his life. Then he looked over, Buck’s eyes were full of relief but then Eddie had to watch his best friend falling, unable to help him. The only thing keeping Buck from hitting the ground was their team. Eddie’s grip had tightened around his son in that moment. He had his son, he was safe, but clearly his best friend wasn’t. His heart was in his throat as he watched them move Buck to a nearby cot and people swarmed him. Eddie couldn’t see him anymore and a knot formed in his stomach. A voice pulled him out of his mind when Lena Bosko called his name. She’d apparently come back._

_“Diaz, hey, Diaz.” The female firefighter snapped in Eddie’s face. “You got to let these guys look over your kid.”_

_Eddie shook his head and blinked a few times, he realized there was another woman standing beside Lena. “Yeah, of course.” He let the doctor lead them over to a cot. Eddie hovered as they looked over Christopher. Lena close by since the rest of the team was with Buck. Eddie felt a hand clap against his shoulder and looked up to see Lena grinning when the doctor gave Chris the all clear._

_“You got a tough kid there,” Lena nodded at Christopher as she spoke. “Glad he’s okay, Diaz.”_

_“Eddie!” The man’s head snapped up when he heard a familiar voice. It was Maddie._

_“I’m going to go see if anyone needs help.” Lena excused herself as Maddie rushed over to hug Eddie._

_“Maddie,” Eddie hugged his best friend’s sister tight. She let go and wrapped Christopher in a hug. A hug the little boy was all too eager to reciprocate._

_“You okay, Buddy?” Maddie asked as she pulled away from the little boy. The tired little boy nodded. “I’m so glad to hear that.” The woman smiled down at the sweet boy._

_“Maddie, what are you doing here? Buck’s-,”Eddie started to tell her that her brother was with the doctors._

_“He’s why I’m here.” Maddie smiled sweetly. “He keeps asking about Christopher. Keeps begging for someone to make sure he’s okay. Bobby’s had to use every ounce of his captain tone to make him stay put. He didn’t stop arguing until I agreed to come check on you guys.”_

_Eddie didn’t know how to feel about that. He didn’t know how Buck had the energy to still be putting up a fight. Eddie’s best friend had looked utterly exhausted when he’d collapsed. Yet, he was apparently still struggling just to make sure Christopher was okay. It made Eddie’s chest feel tight. His friend was hurt, but he was so worried about Christopher he couldn’t let them even treat him._

_“Is Buck okay?” Christopher asked, the boy had been so desperate to know how his Buck was. He’d asked about him constantly while the doctors fussed over him._

_“He will be.” Maddie smiled._

_“Where is he?” Eddie asked as he picked up his son._

_“Come on, I’ll take you.”_

Eddie was drawn back to the present when his son stirred beside him. Eddie looked at his clock, it was almost noon. They’d slept late, but Eddie didn’t mind, it had been a very long night. He slowly coaxed his son to consciousness, a promise of fluffy pancakes doing the trick. He had helped Christopher get ready and was changing his own shirt when Christopher interrupted him.

“What’s that?” Christopher asked.

“What’s what?” Eddie asked turning towards his son as the shirt settled over his torso.

“That,” Christopher makes his way over and pushes his dad’s shirt up slightly. Eddie stares down in disbelief at the intricate design just off to the side of his abs. He rushed to his bathroom to get a better look at it the mark in the mirror.

“A soulmark,” Eddie answered. His mind reeling.

“That means you have a soulmate.” Christopher smiled up at his dad.

“I guess I do.” Eddie didn’t know how long he stood there looking at the mark and trying to steady his breathing. He had given up on the idea of soulmates a long time ago. He’d met Shannon, got married, they had Chris, then she was gone. He didn’t have time for a soulmate then, even if he’d have had a mark.

“Can we have pancakes now?” Christopher asked, pulling Eddie out of his thoughts.

“Yeah, of course.” 

They spent some time snuggled tight under a blanket on couch watching cartoons. Eddie checking to make sure ever scratch the boy had been clean and was healing. Their afternoon turned busy when Eddie’s Abuela and Tia Pepa had stopped by and made them dinner. They spent a few hours fussing over Christopher. It gave Eddie a chance to shower. The shower was really more of an excuse for him to look closer at the details of his soulmark. He ran his fingers over the mark and wondered who it could be. Marks sometimes appeared after a life altering trauma. He thought about all the people he seen the night before. He knew who his heart wanted it to be. He shook himself and showered.

When he was dressed and returned to his family both women were grinning. Oh, that didn’t bode well. They ended up bombarding him with questions about his soulmark. Eddie sighed. His son must have told them. He answered all the questions he could. Yes, he had a mark. It had showed up sometime during the night. No, he had no clue who it was. An hour later the two women left and Eddie dropped comically onto the couch beside Christopher, earning a giggle from the boy. Eddie smiled. He hadn’t heard the sound all day. They went back to cuddling until Christopher fell asleep.

Buck hadn’t slept much the past few nights. He had some terrible nightmares and he didn’t really have the energy to do much but stare at the TV, not really paying attention. He was pretty much on autopilot, his mind refusing to focus on anything really. It kept drawing him back to the events at the pier. He’d sent Eddie a few texts to make sure Christopher was okay. Maddie had called him a few times to check in, but he spent most of the time alone. He’d been having a tough time after the embolism but this, this was so much worse. He just kept thinking about how he’d lost Christopher. How Christopher could have died because Buck insisted on playing the hero. At one point Buck actually threw up from that thought. He’d failed to keep Christopher safe. He failed Christopher and he failed his best friend. The look on Eddie’s face when Buck told him he lost Christopher was burned into Buck’s retinas. The sheer devastation haunting Buck’s dreams, so he was genuinely surprised when he opened the door to find Eddie and Christopher. He’s pretty sure his brain actually short circuited when he sees them. His mouth failing to for any intelligible words as they greet him.

“Hey Buck,” Christopher says as he moves in to hug Buck.

“Good Morning, Buck.” Eddie says at pretty much the same time.

“H-hey buddy.”Buck manages to get his brain to start working again and stutters a reply as he hugs Christopher back. Buck has to focus as the Diaz boys move past him and into Buck’s apartment.

“Okay, there is a morning snack, a midday snack, 2 coloring books and a bunch of legos.” Eddie is saying as he sets Christopher’s backpack on the island in the kitchen. Buck is struggling to comprehend what is happening as Eddie looks up at him and continues. “Between us, he’s never built anything that kinda looks like anything, he just likes sticking things together.” Buck hears Eddie direct Christopher to the living room, or more specifically to the TV. Buck still can’t get his brain to form sentences so he listens as Eddie continues and holds up some cash, “There’s $20 for pizza and if I were you, I’d eat a couple extra slices. You look like you’re wasting away to nothing.” Buck ignores the feeling that Eddie’s concern seems to give him and forces himself to try and speak.

“Eddie…” Buck tries to tell his best friend that this is a terrible idea, but Eddie isn’t having it.

“I will say honestly, you being laid up is working out for me. I mean, you’re no abuela and you’re half a Carla, but you’ll do in a pinch.”

“You want me…” Buck finally speaks up, “to watch Christopher?” The younger man couldn’t believe this was happening.

“It’s easy. He’s not very fast.” Eddie tries to break the tension with a joke.

“After everything that happened?”

The look on Buck’s face make Eddie’s heart hurt. “A natural disaster happened, Buck.”

“I lost him, Eddie.” Buck sounded broken, and it shatters something inside of Eddie he didn’t know was there. He has to fight the urge to just pull his best friend to him and hold him tight.

“No, you saved him. That’s how he remembers it.” Eddie points at his son for emphasis. He needed Buck to understand that this wasn’t his fault. That Eddie’d been worrying about Buck since he left the VA hospital. Christopher had too. “And now, it’s his turn to do the same for you.”

“I was supposed to look out for him.” Buck wants to believe what Eddie is saying, but he couldn’t let himself. He’d been too busy being a hero to look after the only person that mattered to Eddie.

“What? You think you failed him?” Eddie bites back a bitter laugh. “I’ve failed that kid more than I care to count and I’m his father. But, I love him enough to never stop trying. And I know you do too. Buck, there is nobody in this world I trust with my son more than you.” Eddie can feel this truth to his core. Buck adores Christopher and the fates themselves couldn’t keep those two apart, so Eddie sure as hell isn’t about to let his best friend’s insecurities and doubt do it. Eddie would spend all day trying to convince Buck that not only does Eddie still trust him, but he also doesn’t blame him. Any chance that he might blame his best friend died that night at the VA hospital when Buck collapsed. As much as he wants to just stay and cuddle with the two people he cares about most in the world, he knows he has to work. So he forces himself to turn to kiss his son goodbye. “Okay buddy, I gotta go. Love you, have fun.” He hears his son’s reply and forces himself to head towards the door. He looks at Buck as he does. “Maybe try going to the zoo this time, something inland.” The smile on Buck’s face makes Eddie want to cheer. He missed seeing his best friend happy. But there was something he needed to say. So as Eddie opened the door to leave, he turned back to Buck. “Oh um, thank you, for not giving up.” Eddie forces himself to leave before he says anything else.

Buck smiles and turns to go see Chris when Buck freezes. He was rubbing his side, right where his mark was. It was tingling. That was weird, but Buck had to focus. He needed to look after Christopher. He needed to prove that to Eddie, and himself, that he could still be trusted.

Eddie’s drive to work is done pretty much without thinking. When he gets to the station he sits in his car and he rubs the spot where his soulmark is. It had felt strange since he dropped Christopher off. It had been most intense when he was walking away from Buck’s door. Part of him is wondering if he was just projecting how much he would love for Buck to be his soulmate. He was pretty sure he was in love with his best friend and had been a long time. He shook himself and headed inside. He saw Lena and he wondered. She was one of the few things that had changed. Eddie spent most of the day bouncing between thinking about Christopher and Buck, as well as wondering more about his soulmate.

“Earth to Eddie,” Hen’s voice and hand waving in front of the former medic’s face draw Eddie’s mind back to lunch. Eddie blinked a few times and shook his head. They were all sitting at the table eating and Eddie had just zoned out.

“Where’d you go, Diaz?” Lena asked.

“Sorry,” Eddie mumbled. “Just got a lot on my mind.”

“You worried about Christopher?” Bobby asked.

“No, well yeah, but no. He’s with Buck, and he sends me an update pretty much every 15 minutes or so. It’s…” he’d wanted to say it was sweet, or adorable, but he knew he’d never hear the end of it. “Time consuming.” He snorts at his own ridiculousness. “Get this, he genuinely thinks I blame him and shouldn’t trust him.” Eddie shook his head. “I really think he blames himself for a natural disaster.”

“You don’t do you?” Bobby asks.

“Of course not. I’m the one that told him to take Christopher out. I told them to go out and have fun. Sure I thought they were going to a movie, but of course they would pick the day of tsunami to go to the pier.” He felt his phone buzz again and laughed when he checked it. “I mean look he just sent a picture of a nonsense lego structure they made using every lego I packed Chris.” He showed them all the picture. Bobby smiled fondly at the photo. Hen laughed. Chimney shook his head. Lena just nodded. His phone buzzed again. “And it’s down.” Eddie shook his head and showed them a picture of the legos all over the table. Eddie typed a quick reply and put his phone away, returning to his meal he was mainly just poking around his plate.

“We know you miss your boys, but you’ve been even quieter than normal.” Hen pointed out.

Eddie decided there was no point in lying. “As crazy as it sounds, that night I guess I got my soulmark.” He tried to make it sound like it wasn’t a big deal. He felt almost every eye on him when he said it. He was almost thankful when Chimney choked on the bite he’d just taken. Hen turned her attention to Chim to make sure he was fine. When he waved them off they focused back on Eddie.

“Any clue who it is?” Bobby asked.

“No idea.” Eddie sighed. “But it couldn’t have come at a worse time.” Eddie rubbed at his eyes. “My son just went through something horrible and I really don’t have time to deal with a soulmate.”

“Well, maybe it’ll be easier than you think.” Chim stated. Everyone turned to look at him again. “What? I’m just saying. You never know, maybe they can relate to the kid.” Hen raised an eyebrow at her fellow paramedic. Chim just shrugged, trying not to show that he may know something important. He took the chance to text Maddie so that later they could totally discuss the odds that her brother’s crush might be his soulmate. Eddie felt a bit lucky that the alarm went off at that exact moment.

Buck woke up to a hand on his side. He tensed up, realizing he must have fallen asleep on the couch with Christopher watching TV. That wasn’t very responsible of him. He looked down to see Christopher’s finger tracing his mark. His shirt must have ridden up during his nap.

“That tickles.” Buck laughed. Chris’ eyes lighting up at the laugh. The little boy tickled him again. “Oh, picking on me are you?” Buck grinned. He tickled Christopher in retaliation a small tickle fight occurring.

When they had called a truce and settled back in to watch cartoons. Chris asked, “Is that a soulmark?”

“Yeah, buddy. It’s a soulmark. I got it the other day.”

“Really?” Christopher’s smiled, about to tell him his dad got one the other day too, but was interrupted when he heard a key in the door and the door opening.

“I brought Chinese food.” Eddie called as he made his way into the apartment. Buck made a quick motion to make sure his mark is covered, and checked the time. Eddie’s shift had ended almost an hour ago.

“How long was I out?” Buck whispered to Christopher.

“I took a nap too.” Christopher smiled conspiratorially. “But I wont tell him if you don’t.”

Buck ruffled his hair, got up and helped Christopher to his feet.

“What’re you two whispering about?” Eddie asked as he started unpacking the cartons of food.

“Nothing,” Christopher grinned.

“You two keeping secrets from me?” Eddie asked in mock shock, causing Christopher to laugh.

“Us? Never.” Buck gave the most innocent look. “I’ll grab plates.” The younger man going to the kitchen.

Christopher tugged at his dad’s shirt to get his attention. “What’s up little man?” Eddie asked. Christopher glanced to make sure Buck hadn’t come back and motioned for his dad to lean down. Eddie did. He figured his son was going to clue him in on what they were talking about.

“He’s got one too.” Christopher whispered.

“One what, buddy?” Eddie asked. The pair heard Buck coming back. The boy answered Eddie by poking at the spot he knew his dad’s mark was at. Eddie froze when he his brain finally registered what his son meant. He wanted to ask his son a million a questions but Buck was looking between the Diaz boys.

“You telling him secrets now?” Buck grinned.

“Maybe.” Christopher laughed as he sat down to eat. Buck laughed as he started plating the food.

Eddie jumped slightly when he felt Buck’s hand on his shoulder, his skin tingling at the contact. He looked up at his best friend and saw the concerned look on his face. “You okay?” Buck asked.

Eddie frantically nodded and cleared his throat. “Y-yeah, I’m good. Let’s eat.”

Buck didn’t know what had changed but Eddie was unusually quiet during dinner. The younger man was starting to worry that maybe Eddie had changed his mind about what he had said that morning. Maybe he was starting to question if he could trust him. Buck’s mind kept his doubts up even as he was putting dishes in the sink.

“Can we talk?” Eddie asked, making Buck jump slightly and drop the plate in his hand, thankful that it didn’t break as it fell in the sink.

“If it’s because I fell asleep, I’m sorry. I haven’t slept well the past few nights, and it was only like an hour at most.” Buck looked close to tears. “I’m sorry, Eddie. I know I should have…”

“Whoa, hey, no.” Eddie’s heart broke at the look on his best friend’s face. “It’s fine, I’m sure if Chris would have need you he’d have been able to wake you up. You haven’t been sleeping?” Eddie’s brows furrowed in concern. “Since the tsunami or before that?”

“Both,” Buck said, because he’d had trouble sleeping since the truck and embolism, but the tsunami only made it worse. Now he woke up screaming for Christopher and feeling like an even bigger failure than he had before.

“Oh Buck.” Eddie thought fuck it, as much as he wants to know about the younger man’s soulmark, Buck clearly needed help. He pulled Buck into a hug. “Why didn’t you call me?”

“You were dealing with Christopher and he went through so much, first losing his mom, then I lost him and-,” Buck’s voice was muffled from where his head was buried in Eddie’s shoulder.

“Shhh,” Eddie rubbed Buck’s back. “You can always call me. If I can answer I will. If I can’t, then I’ll call you back as soon as I can. Always. I have your back, even if it’s 2 a.m. and you can’t sleep.” Eddie moved his hand so that he could pull away and look Buck in the eye when the younger man gasped. “What? What happened?” Eddie looked down to see where his hand was. It was on Buck’s side. He remembered what his son had told him. He looked up and saw his best friend’s eye were wide and looked back down at his hand. Eddie decided to take a chance and pulled up Buck’s shirt to see a soulmark, one that matched his own, the same intricate design that was on Eddie’s own skin. Without hesitation Eddie crashed his lips into Buck’s. Buck was shocked for a moment until he melted into the kiss.

“Eddie,” Buck’s voice a bit breathless. “What was that?”

“A kiss,” Eddie chuckled, leaning his forehead against Buck’s.

“No, I get that, but…” Buck’s eyebrows creased. As an answer Eddie pulled up his shirt. Buck looked down and his eyes went wide in shock, his fingers going up to brush the mark that matched his own. “How’d you know?” Buck asked, his voice still breathless.

“Christopher told me.” Eddie grinned. “He saw mine the other morning.”

“This is real, isn’t it?” Buck said in awe. “We’re-“

“Soulmates.” Eddie kissed him again.

“Does this mean Buck’s going to move in with us now?” Christopher voice was unexpectedly close. Buck jumped and tried to pull away, but Eddie kept him close.

“I hope so, bud.” Eddie grinned. “What do you say, Buck? You want to come home with us and stay forever?”

“Hell yes.” Buck smiled. “Forever sounds good.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading.  
> I've almost posted this a few times but was unsure. I just decided to go with it.  
> Send me prompts on tumblr @sortofanobsession.


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